1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable communication apparatus such as a mobile telephone or the like, and more particularly, to a portable communication apparatus having a function of informing a user carrying the same of occurrence of an incoming call.
2. Description of Related Art
A portable telephone is a typical mobile communication apparatus. In general, the portable telephone is provided with an alert device for informing the user, by sound and/or silent vibration, of the occurrence of an incoming call. The user can select one or both of the audible alert and the vibration alert.
In the case where only the silent vibration alert has been selected, however, the user cannot be informed without having such a portable telephone on his/her person or making physical contact with it. Therefore, when the portable telephone is put in a bag or the like, the silent vibration alert is made in vain. To avoid such a case, many users select the audible alert.
In the case where the audible alert has been selected, however, a sounder sounds alert tone when an incoming call occurs, making a nuisance of itself. As a function of stopping the audible alert as soon as possible, an Any-key answer function has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 10-107874. The Any-key answer function stops the sounder and start communication by the user depressing not only a start key but also any key of ten keys, 0-9, symbol keys (*, #) and other keys. Therefore, the user can stop the sounder without looking at the keypad provided in the portable telephone, resulting in rapid alert stop.
The portable telephone disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 10-107874 also provides another useful function called a response hold function. The response hold function is useful in the case where the user cannot respond to an incoming call immediately. More specifically, when an end key is depressed on incoming call, the sounder is stopped and the portable telephone sends a caller a message such that the called party cannot respond to this call immediately, and the caller is put on hold. When a start key is depressed, the telephone communication can be made.
However, according to the above-described conventional portable telephone, when the user depresses any key in the Any-key answer mode, the audible alert is stopped and, at the same time the portable telephone responds to the incoming call to be set to the communication mode. This would cause the calling party to start talking. If the calling party receives silence from the called party, the calling party may determine that some failure occurs and then is likely to disconnect the established line. To avoid such disconnection, the called party must start conversation, which will conversely make a nuisance of itself.
On the other hand, the response hold function provides transmission of a message that the called party cannot respond to this call immediately. Therefore, it is not necessary to start conversation immediately. However, there is a strong possibility that the calling party promptly disconnects the call because it is determined that it makes a nuisance of itself or partly because it cannot be determined how long the calling party is kept waiting. When the called party depresses the start key, the incoming call would be disconnected already.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable communication apparatus and a control method that can stop an alert indicating an incoming call so that the calling party does not disconnect the call.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a portable communication apparatus includes an alert device for producing an alert when an incoming call occurs and an input device having a plurality of keys. The alert device producing the alert is controlled to stop the alert while holding the incoming call depending on a first predetermined operation of the input device.
The portable communication apparatus is capable of responding to the incoming call held when a second predetermined operation of the input device is performed after the first predetermined operation.
According to another aspect of the invention, a portable communication apparatus further includes a key function changer for changing logical functions of the plurality of keys based on a predetermined rule depending on a change in operation mode of the portable communication apparatus. The alert device producing the alert is controlled to stop the alert while holding the incoming call when a key having a predetermined logical function is operated.
The key function changer preferably includes a memory storing a table of correspondence between the plurality of keys and a plurality of logical functions for an alert operation mode. Referring to the table, it is determined whether the key having the predetermined logical function is operated.
Preferably, a plurality of keys have the predetermined logical function assigned thereto. All the keys may have the predetermined logical function assigned thereto. All the keys other than a predetermined key may have the predetermined logical function assigned thereto and the predetermined key has a logical function of responding to the incoming call assigned thereto. Further, all the keys other than a plurality of predetermined keys may have the predetermined logical function assigned thereto and the respective predetermined keys have a logical function of responding to the incoming call assigned thereto. Alternatively, a single key may have the predetermined logical function assigned thereto.
The key function changer preferably includes a first memory for storing function setting data Including a quick-silence function flag and a second memory storing a table of correspondence between the plurality of keys and a plurality of logical functions for each of an alert operation and alert stopped modes in a case where the quick-silence function flag is set. Referring to the function setting data and the table, it is determined whether the key having the predetermined logical function is operated.
According to further another aspect of the present invention, a control method for a portable communication apparatus including an input device having a plurality of keys, includes the steps of: assigning a silence function to at least one of the plurality of keys for an alert mode; producing an alert when an Incoming call occurs; and stopping the alert while holding the incoming call when a key having the silence function assigned thereto is operated.
Further, the method preferably includes the step of: assigning a response function to at least one of the plurality of keys for an alert stopped mode; and responding to the incoming call hold when a key having the response function assigned thereto is operated.
As described above, according to the present invention, the alert indicating the occurrence of an incoming call can be stopped while holding the incoming call. Since the incoming call is maintained, the calling party continues to hear a ringing tone when the alert has been stopped at the called party, resulting in a reduced possibility that the calling party disconnects the call.
Further, in the case where a silence function is assigned to a plurality of keys, the alert can be stopped while holding the incoming call by depressing any of the silence keys, resulting in rapid alert stop.
Furthermore, in the case where a response (off-hook) function is assigned to a plurality of keys after the alert has been stopped, the response to the incoming call can be rapidly performed by depressing one of the plurality of response keys.